Retired lifeguard keeps eye on ocean, through camera lense
Many of photographer Joel Gitelson’s seascapes capture waves in seemingly unnatural formations.
Joel Gitelson spent 44 years studying the ocean, 14 of them as a New York lifeguard and 30 of them as a Los Angeles County Lifeguard. He spent his final two decades at the helm of Baywatch on Catalina island. Though he retired in 2012, he didn’t stopped studying the ocean. But instead of watching for struggling swimmers, he now watches for what he calls in his upcoming photography show “Captured moments.”
“That’s what photography does. Wave images occur and are gone, in a nanosecond,” he said.
Strand Brewing Company, whose logo is a lifeguard tower, will host an exhibit of Gitelson’s photos Friday evening. The images, almost all taken in the South Bay, offer view of the ocean through the eyes of a veteran lifeguard. The photos include frightening waves, a blood moon over Manhattan and, not surprisingly, lifeguard towers. Few of Gitelson’s images include people because he prefers to show “pure ocean energy,” he said.
Strand Brewing is at 2201 Dominguez St., Torrance. To view more of Gitelson’s photographs visit AtSeaLevel.net.